...Taming the Dragon The Paradox of The Three Gorges Dam CHE 546 Economics, Environment and Ecology Stuart School of Business, IIT Executive Summary The title of this paper is Taming the Dragon – The Paradox of the Three Gorges Dam. I chose this title because as I researched this topic, I realized that almost everything about the Three Gorges Dam is a paradox, beginning with the reason it was planned, designed and constructed in the first place. The primary paradox of the Three Gorges Dam is that in its quest to make life better for the country and people of China, the dam also made things unbelievably and irrevocably worse on a number of levels. For centuries, China has depended on the Yangtze River. The river travels south from high in the Himalayas and then east toward the Pacific Ocean. The beauty of the pure water from the melting glacier at its source will turn into a ravaging, murderous river that robs people of their homes, food, livelihoods and even their loved ones and their own lives. Another paradox of the Three Gorges Dam is that it is an enormous monument of industrialization. It is more than a way to control water levels, protecting people from uncontrollable storm water. It is a symbol of China’s commitment to its future. Abundant, clean energy. There are those who argue that the resulting damage of the dam project is worse than the damage the river produces when it’s out of control – essentially the cure is worse than the...
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...The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric dam that spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, located in Yiling District, Yichang, Hubei province, China. The Three Gorges Dam is the world's largest power station in terms of installed capacity (22,500 MW) but is second to Itaipu Dam with regard to the generation of electricity annually. Except for a ship lift, the dam project was completed and fully functional as of July 4, 2012, when the last of the main turbines in the underground plant began production. Each main turbine has a capacity of 700 MW. The dam body was completed in 2006. Coupling the dam's 32 main turbines with two smaller generators (50 MW each) to power the plant itself, the total electric generating capacity of the dam is 22,500 MW. As well as producing electricity, the dam is intended to increase the Yangtze River's shipping capacity and reduce the potential for floods downstream by providing flood storage space. The Chinese government regards the project as a historic engineering, social and economic success, with the design of state-of-the-art large turbines, and a move toward limiting greenhouse gas emissions. However, the dam flooded archaeological and cultural sites and displaced some 1.3 million people, and is causing significant ecological changes, including an increased risk of landslides. The dam has been a controversial topic both domestically and abroad. A large dam across the Yangtze River was originally envisioned by Sun Yat-sen in The International...
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...A Report on Shanghai (Yangshan) Port Visit 2013 Debarshi Das IIFT Kolkata 7/7/2013 Contents * What is a Port - page 3 * Types of Port - page 3 * Major Ports in China - page 4 * Port’s major functions - page 5 * About Shanghai Port - page 6 * Yangshan deep water container terminal - page 7 * Key points and challenges - page 9 * References - page 9 What is a Port? A “Port” is a facility for receiving ships and transferring cargo to and from them. They are usually situated at the edge of an ocean or sea, river, or lake. Ports often have cargo-handling equipment such as cranes and forklifts for use in loading/unloading of ships, which may be provided by private interests or public bodies. Often, canneries or other processing facilities will be located very close by. Harbor pilots, barges and tugboats are often used to safely maneuver large ships in tight quarters as they approach and leave the docks. The presence of deep water in channels or berths, the provision of protection from the wind, waves and storm surges and access to intermodal transportation such as trains or trucks are critical to the functioning of seaports and river ports. Types of port: (i) Seaport: The terms "port" and "seaport" are used for ports that handle ocean-going vessels; (ii) River port: used for facilities that handle river traffic; (iii) Inland port: An inland port may be located on a lake or river and have river...
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...Chinese Culture September 13, 2012 The construction of the Three Gorges Dam is a phenomenal construction masterpiece all in its own. Building the dam took years of preparation and was a construction feat to put even the best physicists and architects to the test. Even though the construction would put many natives out of homes, the end results would provide power to the city and boost the success level of the economy. The Three Gorges Dam was built on the Yangtze River, which was nicknamed the “Dragon” because of its sheer power and strength. The construction of this dam employed more than 40,000 people and was said to be the largest construction feat since the Great Wall of China. The construction started back in 1994 near the town of Sandouping and would cost 28 billion dollars. Four years after the beginning of the construction, China experienced their worst flood in history. The flood of 1998 affected nearly 300 million people and covered an area almost the size of New Zealand. There was an estimated loss of nearly 4000 lives after the flood. This flood temporarily threatened China’s economy and had the potential to affect everyone in the industrial world. The total economic loss for China reached 24 billion dollars. It’s because China is the center of industry that everyone in the world could’ve potentially been affected. The Three Gorges Dam sat with a staggering 610 ft. high wall and ran 1.3 miles from bank to bank. When the dam was completed in 2012...
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...area is made up of mountains. The tallest mountain on Earth, Mount Everest, sits on the border between China and Nepal. China has thousands of rivers. The Yangtze and the Yellow Rivers are the most important. At 3,915 miles (6,300 kilometers) long, the Yangtze is the world's third largest river. Source: Kidport China is a very diverse land including deserts, mountains and fertile river basins. Much of western China is mountains with the Himalaya, Tian and Pamir ranges. Western China also has a large desert. Central...
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...dynasty began when Emperor Wendi's daughter became the Empress Dowager of Northern Zhou, along along with her stepson as the new emperor. After defeating an army in the eastern provinces as the prime minister of Zhou, Wendi took the throne by force and proclaimed himself emperor. Emperor Wendi then initiated a series of reforms aimed at strengthening his empire for the wars that would accomplish the reunification of China. Beginning in the southern, he assembled thousands of boats to confront the naval forces of the Chen Dynasty on the Yangtze River. Most of his ships were tall, having layered decks & the capacity for 800 passengers. Besides Xianbei & other Chinese ethnic groups joining him for the fight against Chen, Emperor Wendi also received the service of aborigines from southeastern Sichuan, a civilization that Sui had recently conquered. In the work of 588 C.E., the Sui had amassed around 518,000 troops along the northern bank of the Yangtze River, stretching from southeastern Sichuan to the Pacific Ocean. All the...
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...negative and its current impacts on the nation. So rather than argue one side or the other, I am going to lay out both the positives and the negatives of the dam, and maybe and some point down the road, I will have a better take on the overall positive or negative impact the Three Gorges Dam has really done. So let us start off with the positive aspects of what the dam brought to the Yangtze River Valley. The work on the dam began in 1993 and final construction was completed in 2009. The three main purposes of the dam are hydroelectric power production, flood control, and navigation improvement for the shipping lanes. The power production of the Three Gorges Dam sits as the world largest power station at 22,500 MW (Mega Watts). With 32 water driven turbines inside the dam, the 98.8 TWh (Terawatthours) was enough to provide energy for 10% of Chinas population at a staggering 136 million people. This energy is equivalent to 18 nuclear power plants and at a fraction of the cost. Flood control has been argued to be the biggest reason for the dam’s construction as seasonal flooding from the Yangtze River is common and disastrous. Millions of residents live downstream of the dam in the...
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...Occupying government building, banks, and warehouses, shooting people randomly in the streets, many of them in the backs as they ran away. The Japanese systematically killed city dwellers as they conducted house to house searches for soldiers in Nanking, shooting down anyone who could have been a former soldier. They killed elder men and women if they failed to understand orders and they shoot store keepers and looted and burned their stores. The women suffered the most no matter how old or young the could escape being raped, they would load them up in trucks and then they where given to 15 to 20 soldier for intercourse and abuse. Although raping of enemy women was official out lawed ,the law was ignored and not taken seriously. After the women were raped they were killed to keep silent; even generals were guilty of raping women , one officer told the soldier " either pay them or kill them some-out-of-way...
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...China’s Water Woes: A Tug of Water Between Economic Growth & Sustainable Development China’s Water Woes: A Tug of Water Between Economic Growth & Sustainable Development When we think about water, we never think of it in finite terms like we do with oil and other valuable resources we consume. After all, why should we think of water as a limited supply? Our entire planet is covered with 75 percent water. It is implausible to believe that countries would go to war over water as they have for oil. Due to rapid economic growth, China is increasingly becoming a water stressed country as it faces two major problems with its water resource management: water pollution and water shortage. The water crises needs to be examined in finite terms as its quantity and quality continues to have a strangle hold on China. “China’s economic boom has, in a ruthless symmetry, fueled an equal and opposite environmental collapse. In its race to become the world’s next superpower, China is not only draining its rivers and aquifers with abandon; it is also polluting what’s left so irreversibly that the World Bank warns of catastrophic consequences for future generations.” (Larmer 2008, 153) Rapid economic growth and along with an increase in population is fueling environmental degradation and is becoming increasingly detrimental to its current and future economic growth in China. The gap between economic growth and environmental...
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...that spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, located in Yiling District, Yichang, Hubei province, China. The Three Gorges Dam is the world's largest power station in terms of installed capacity it can create up to 22,500 MW enough to power New York for 10 years. In 2012, the amount of electricity the dam generated was similar to the amount generated by the Itaipu Dam. This is the world’s largest dam as is located in Portugal. The dam as well as producing electricity protects 15 million people and 1.5 million acres of farmland in areas of the Yangtze River that are vulnerable to flooding. In order to do this, the water height of the reservoir upstream from the dam will change according to season. During the dry season, from November to April, the water level will be allowed to reach 185 meters above sea level, but during the flooding months, the water level will be reduced to 135 meters in order to attempt to contain flood waters. This is a great social, environmental and economic advantage of the dam because it stops major flooding that can kill millions it also protects 1.5 million acres of farm land and it doesn’t cost the government billions of pounds to repair damage to homes and farms. However for every reaction there is always an opposite and equal reaction and as such there were inevitable disadvantages of building the dam. For one The Three Gorges Project has a great influence on the environment and ecology of the reservoir area and the Yangtze River. The...
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...Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Laos. China is the world’s most populous country with approximately 1.35 billion people. China is a single- party state governed by the communist party which is run by President Hu Jintao. China is made up of 23 provinces, five autonomous regions, and four municipalities directly under the Central Government. Most of the population of China lives in the middle and lower part of the Yellow River, Yangtze River (longest river) and Pearl River valleys. In China, over 35 million people still lives in caves. Approximately 91.6 percent of Chinese people are Han. Non-Han population includes 55 ethnic minorities, of which the major groups are the Zhuang, Manchu, Hui, Miao, Uygur, Yi, Tujia, Mongolian, and Tibetan. The number of religious worshippers in China is estimated at approximately 100 million, most of which are Buddhism. Other religions are Taoism, Islam, and Christianity in both its Catholic and Protestant forms. There are many different languages spoken in China, including Mandarin, Yue, Wu, Minbei, Minnan, Xiang, Gan, and Hakka. The flag of China is red with five stars on the upper left side. The position of the stars on the Chinese flag represents the people’s unity under communism. The giant panda which was found near the Yangtze River is considered a Chinese national treasure that over 1,000 survive in the wild. In China, the Chinese celebrate October 1st as a National Day to honor and celebrate the founding of the People’s Republic of China (October...
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...China is one of the oldest civilizations,dating back thousand of years with continuous history. The first period in ancient China was the neolithic period followed by the Xia Dynasty, the Shang Dynasty, the Zhou Dynasty and the Western Zhou. The Yangtze River considered to be the cradle of Chinese civilization. Ancient historical text have provided some proof of the possible existence of the Xia Dynasty that existed even before the Shang Dynasty of 1700-1046 B.C. The last time period considered to be included in the Ancient China time period was the Eastern Zhou. Imperial China followed Ancient China beginning with the Qin Dynasty. The Xia Dynasty ruled from the 21st to the 17th century B.C. The Shang Dynasty ruled from the 17th century to 1046 B.C. They ruled a lot of the area along the Yellow River. It’s founder w2as Tang. The Zhou ruled from 1046 to 256 B.C. This was the longest ruling dynasty in China’s history. The Western Zhou, the first part of the Zhou Dynasty ruled from 1046 to 771 B.C. Its founder was King Wu. The eastern Zhou, the second of the Zhou Dynasty ruled from 770 to 256 B.C. The Peking Man that was discovered in 1923 is the most famous Homo erectus specimen of Paleolithic man in Ancient China. By Shang times, the Chinese had developed complex religious beliefs many of which continued to be practiced for...
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...issues? The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is a fossil fuel and natural gas energy source located in Alaska, USA. The fossil fuels reserve is very abundant. According to the US geological survey, on a 1980 research, ANWR has 17 billions of barrels of oils and 34 trillions of Natural Gas. The environmental impact, if it exists, is minimum; only 8% of the refuge will be used, and the maximum footprint development allowed by Congress is about 2000 acres. The new technology implemented at Prudhoe Bay has made the area more environmental friendly for wildlife. In order to protect the tundra, drill sites are constructed on 4' thick gravel pads. Even if a 1" drop of crude oil drips onto the pad, workers are required to shovel it up for proper disposal. (Prudhoe Bay, 2001). Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will be a huge impact to the United States economy. Revenues generated will help offset the United States deficit. Billions of dollars from bonus bids, lease rentals, royalties and taxes would enhance federal revenues. Estimates on bonus bids for ANWR by the Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Interior for the first 5 years...
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...Shanghai Shanghai is a huge city located in China. This happens to be the largest populated city in the whole world. It is a global financial center, and a transport hub with the world's busiest container port. Located in the Yangtze River Delta in East China, Shanghai sits at the mouth of the Yangtze River in the middle portion of the Chinese coast. In 1842, the British arrived, Shanghai was already densely populated with 250,000 people. This number will grow rapidly in Shanghai in the future. After the British arrived so did the United Stated and France. British then called them coat-tail imperialist. Citizens of many countries and all continents came to Shanghai to live and work during this time period; those who stayed for long periods, called themselves "Shanghailanders”. The reasons they stayed was mostly because of the trade of opium and other things like cotton. This number of people in Shanghai now is up over 24 million and growing every day. One of the main reasons for the vast population in this region was Shanghai had a large concentration of fresh drinkable water that most people wanted and the cotton fields were vast and growing and there was a potential for a lot of money to be made. After people began to settle is when factories were built because there were a vast number of people who needed jobs. This was when the population grew vastly. Also they people began to come to this region because the Opium wars were breaking out in the ghettos of shanghai. The...
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...1. A SHORT INTRODUCTION Happy Farm is a partnership organization which aims at providing our customers with the freshest, organically grown fruits, vegetables and nature food. Our farm is located in the rural area in Shanghai Chongming Island. The pleasant climate of Shanghai ensures that there is a good natural environment with fresh air, fertile soil and less pollution. Based on Shanghai, Happy Farm targets at Shanghai local customers, even selling to Yangtze River Delta region, which includes the Zhejiang and Jiangsu Province. With the ecological environmental system, energy recycling systems and information technology support, it can ensure that our customers can enjoy a variety of fresh, healthy and organic food. Mission: Enjoy the organic life Vision: Happy farm is committed to be a Chinese leading brand of manufacturing and supplying organic vegetables and fruits, offering online ordering and door-to-door delivery service. Our goal is to create organic life for our customers. 2. THE PRODUCT OR SERVICE The vegetables and fruits we offer are all organic. “Organic” means a product or food meets certain environmental standards – meaning a guarantee of less harsh chemicals and pesticides. Our organic food is planted in our own farm and we can ensure that the food is freshest, healthy and high-quality. All of the organic food is delivered by our own distribution teams and cooperative logistic companies. We offer door-to-door delivery service of our organic...
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